Gorrister went white. It was almost as though he had seen a voodoo icon, and was afraid of the future. Oh, God, he mumbled, and walked away. The three of us followed him after a time, and found him sitting with his back to one of the smaller chittering banks, his head in his hands. Ellen knelt down beside him and stroked his hair. He didn't move, but his voice came out of his covered face quite clearly. Why doesn't it just do us in and get it over with? Christ, I don't know how much longer I can go on like this.

It was our one hundred and ninth year in the computer.